1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a vehicle control apparatus and a vehicle control system using the vehicle control apparatus that adjust is behavior control performed on subjects to be controlled which are mounted on a vehicle by control units which are responsible for performing subject control every functional domain given to a vehicle.
2. Description of the Related Art
Conventionally, a vehicle is known that uses control apparatuses to control subjects to be controlled of the vehicle based on a vehicle state detected by a sensor and the like (refer to, for example, Japanese Patent Laid-open Publication No. 2007-118945). A control apparatus is provided for each subject to be controlled. The subjects are, for example, a braking system, a steering system, and a driving system. In the above publication, an order of priority of the subjects to be controlled is set for each of a plurality of control conditions. When energy consumption by a subject to be controlled reaches a set value, energy supplied to the subjects to be controlled is adjusted based on the order of priority.
An on-vehicle equipment control apparatus that performs integrated control of on-vehicle equipment based on a current vehicle state is also known (refer to, for example, Japanese Patent Laid-open Publication No. 2006-264472).
However, in the above publication No. 2007-118945, adjustment control of energy provided to the subjects to be controlled is merely performed in adherence to the order of priority. Therefore, a problem is present in that, once the order of priority is set, energy adjustment control is always performed in the same sequence.
In the above publication No. 2006-264472, a control processing section of the on-vehicle equipment control unit controls the on-vehicle equipment serving as subjects to be controlled, based on vehicle conditions. Therefore, a problem is present in that a configuration of the control processing section controlling the on-vehicle equipment is required to be changed when a configuration of the on-vehicle equipment is changed.